PSU Wrestlers place fifth at Oneonta Tournament

Nov 20, 2004

ONEONTA, N.Y. - Plymouth State University
had seven wrestlers finish in the top five in their weight class
Saturday, and the Panthers placed fifth among nine schools in the
Oneonta State Red Dragons Invitational Tournament.

Oneonta State won the tournament with 128 points, followed by NYU
(111.5), RIT (100), WPI (96.5), Plymouth State (82.5), Scranton
(76.5), Johns Hopkins (74.5), Wilkes (74), and Maritime (44).
PSU placed ninth in the tournament last year with 32 points and two
place-finishers.

Seniors Dan Moskowitz (Amherst, N.H.) and
Dave Preciado (Stoneham, Mass.) led the Panthers,
each finishing runner-up in his weight class. Moskowitz was the #2
seed at 157 pounds, and won three straight bouts before losing in
the championship match to top-seeded Chad Sutliff of RIT, 9-1.
Preciado received a forfeit win in his first bout at 133 pounds and
then registered a 7-5 decision over an NYU opponent to advance to
the final, where he was defeated 9-1 by NYU's William St. Pierre.

Senior Nate Kittredge (Vergennes, Vt.) placed
third for PSU at 184 pounds. He was the #2 seed and won his
first match but was upset in the semifinals by third-seeded Peter
Krzyzewski of WPI. Kittredge came back with a pair of wins in
the backdraw to claim third place.

The Wilbert brothers (Toms River, N.J.), freshman
Shaun and junior Billy, placed
third and fourth in the 285-pound division. Both won
first-round matches before their first loss, and both came back
with three consecutive victories in the backdraw to set up a match
against each other in the third-place bout, which went to Shaun in
a default.

Junior Nick Gurney (Dixfield, Maine) and freshman
Ryan Schieding (Manchester, N.H./ Memorial) each
placed fifth in their weight class. Gurney finished the
tournament with a 4-2 record at 174 pounds to claim fifth, and
Schieding went 5-2 to place fifth at 149 pounds.

PSU is idle next weekend, and returns to tournament competition on
Saturday, Dec. 4, at the RIT Invitational in Rochester, N.Y.